Belle has brothers and sisters, there is no Gaston and no furniture come-to-life paying penance. The story retains beauty, magic and romance and the film incorporates it for an adult to enjoy along with their child. Belle is more womanly and fiery ambitious strength. The beast is not consumed by CGI so he endows a personality. It helps that the backstory is creatively incorporated and that the effects support the magic.

You can enjoy both but the french version has the element of surprise. 14-Dec-2017

Skarsgard cuts a tall and ripped Tarzan but allots no distinctive personality to an already iconic comic book character. Margo Robbie tries so hard we can actually see the inner workings of her acting clock. Christoph Waltz' talent depletes every time he is utilized to portray the same type of menace that has established him and dulled us. Samuel L. Jackson exists to enliven with funny whine and witty repartee. Every aspect of the film has been previously treaded to better effect. If you're going to copy, pay homage by trying to make it better. 26-Feb-2017

An all-girl Ghostbusters was welcome but Feig does not equip them with a technique or a crew that would elevate them or excite us in bringing them into this decade. The effects stand poorer than the fade in the original, Wiig is the only one trying to embody the character while MacKinnon resolved that a Bieber snip would help characterize and Melissa is doing schtick. Chris Hemsworth adds some candied fun but is relegated to being irritatingly stupid. His one chance to redeem is pushed silently onto the credits because the only musical sketch they should have kept they deemed too much. Bad call. All we needed was a good Ghostbusters story with kool effects and women starring. Instead we get girls acting like boys because we cannot accept femininity as a strength. Bring back the girls! 09-Jan-2017

It's as if Favreau had resurrected a film story from the embers of decaying copies of The Jungle Book. Everything enchanting you might expect gets emancipated onscreen. Neel Seethi adds luster because he's a real boy being asked to perform an overwhelming and desolate task. Pet peeves are minor. In an otherwise well voiced film I think it would have soared had Kaa been interpreted by a singing diva who would have added more seduction and dread as well a much needed showstopper. But Favreau and crew keep the childhood memories intact whilst lifting us up of our feet for a while. Job well done. 25-Oct-2016

Iterations of Dracula will attempt to seduce, terrorize or masquerade. This variant attempts all three except that when Langella shows up in party city drag, camp dominates. Olivier's heavily accented Van Helsing does not help. Laurence adds too much breadth that is a better fit for cartoon voiceover work. The identity switch between Lucy and Mina doesn't enrich the story but confuses it as we already know their destinies. Did they think it would surprise us to have to connect the unmistakable dots? John Williams score is lush as well as later (Coppola) reimagined but nothing else swings. 29-Sep-2016

Not one person seemed enthusiastic about being in this mess. It plays more like a snippet to an introduction that we've already seen. If you're going to reboot at least try to make some things better. There is no instance in which that happens. I am exhausted watching movies devoid of color. They might as well make it black and white. 11-Jul-2016

This is problematic to review. Everything this movie proposes is laid out to the best of everyone's abilities. Everything that occurs to the woman in this movie is disturbing to watch and even though it rallies around the idea that she will overcome through payback it feels exploitative. Why go there again? Who's this movie for? Would these makers have had as much fun with it if it was a male being raped? I don't know. 05-Jun-2016

The set-up was a tight introduction to what we thought would come then Kirstie Alley is inserted as an exponent with too many emojis as techniques of intensity and a flair for donning winter-wear no matter that the rest of the cast is wearing fall and you know something trifle is underfoot. Once the children grow into their perfectly woven postiche and conspicuous dye jobs and lasers start emitting out of their eyes it gets fatuous at a reckless speed. It's like Carpenter had it, someone conked him over the head halfway throughout and a mad artiste with no experience took over. The kid problem would have been easy to fix, they needed only one blonde boy and girl who could act; CGI them into multiples, and creep more because they are all one and the same. I'd also give them a less stilted superpower. Carpenter can still execute a wicked death though. 24-Apr-2016